NORTHBROOK, Ill., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Illinois Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Awards program has selected Astellas for its highest honor – the Pro Patria Award – as the state's top large employer over the past year. At a recent ceremony in Springfield, Ill., the U.S. Department of Defense national ESGR Awards program recognized Astellas for demonstrating "exceptional support for national defense by adopting policies that make it easier for employees to participate in the National Guard and Reserve." Among the factors that contributed to Astellas receiving the employer-of-choice recognition are the company's 10 days paid military leave per year to support active service employees, its dynamic Military Employee Resource Group (MERG), employee-volunteer support for the annual adaptive-sports Warrior Games, the 11,000 square foot "Heroes Garden" at the entrance to the Astellas corporate headquarters in Northbrook, Ill., and the 2017 donation by Astellas employees of nearly 2.2 million airline miles during a Veterans Day donation drive.

Additionally, the Astellas Brighter Tomorrows charitable giving program awards grants to nonprofit Veterans' organizations that support patients and caregivers' communities that increase disease and resource awareness or that raise peer networking opportunities in one of Astellas' therapeutic areas such as prostate cancer, overactive bladder or transplantation/immunology.

"The ESGR Pro Patria Award is a testament to the outstanding work by so many Astellas employees to support the needs of their colleagues serving in the military and to honor veterans, whether they also work at our company or are members of our community," said Collette Taylor, Astellas senior vice president, Human Resources and Facilities, and executive sponsor of the company's Military Employee Resource Group. "The Astellas culture embraces our focus on the recruitment, retention and recognition of employees with military experience."

Since 2015, Astellas has appeared in several top employer lists in a variety of areas, including LGBT equality, female empowerment, environmental sustainability and military support. This is reflective of the company's efforts to become a preeminent employer in the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, Astellas appeared again on Forbes America's top midsize workplaces list, the company's third consecutive appearance on the Forbes Best Employers list.

About Astellas

Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.us. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma.

SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc.